[10][11] Dark has received critical acclaim for its acting, direction, writing, tone, visuals, themes, musical score, and the ambition and complexity of its narrative.

Many praised the show for its complex narrative structure, which required viewers to pay close attention to detail in order to understand the intricate connections between characters and timelines.

The series direction, handled by Baran bo Odar, was praised for its careful attention to detail, mood, and tone, creating an eerie, tension-filled atmosphere that contributed to the show's success.

The first season begins in 2019, but later grows to include 1986 and 1953 via time travel, when members of the show's central families become aware of a wormhole in the cave system beneath the local nuclear power plant.

The second season introduces Sic Mundus Creatus Est, a major faction in the ongoing battle for the ultimate fate of the people of Winden and the world.

In 1986, four weeks after the disappearance of Mads Nielsen, a desperate Mikkel is found by police chief Egon Tiedemann, who suspects he has been beaten by the teenage Ulrich.

At the nuclear plant, newly elected director Claudia Tiedemann, Egon's daughter and Regina's mother, clashes with her predecessor Bernd Doppler, who informs her of secret barrels hidden in the nearby caves.

Meanwhile, as the town's electricity is flickering, a teenage Charlotte starts investigating the deaths of multiple birds, shy young Hannah has unrequited feelings for Ulrich, and Regina is being bullied and engages in self-harm.

A flock of sheep is found dead from cardiac arrest with their eardrums ruptured, Mikkel escapes from the hospital and returns to the caves; after breaking his leg, he calls for help.

In 2019, Mikkel's family struggles not to turn against each other, Regina discovers that she has breast cancer, and Ulrich learns that his father was having an affair with Claudia at the time of Mads' disappearance.

Ulrich arrives from 2019 and meets several locals, including newcomer Agnes Nielsen and her son Tronte, who are about to rent a room in the Tiedemann house, and a watchmaker named H. G. Tannhaus, who disclaims knowledge of the book found in Helge's 2019 home.

In 1986, teenage Ulrich is released without charges, and Hannah secretly discovers that a newly arrived young man, who calls himself Aleksander Köhler, is living under a false identity.

The Stranger leaves to destroy the wormhole using the brass machine, which Tannhaus has completed from the broken version brought by the adult Jonas and Ulrich's smartphone.

The younger Noah is guided by his older self, a member of a society of time travellers called Sic Mundus led by the disfigured and mysterious Adam.

In 1987, the "Unknown"—a time traveler appearing as his child, adult, and elder selves at the same time—burns down the Sic Mundus church, and later assassinates Bernd Doppler in his home, stealing the keys to the nuclear power plant.

Unable to reach Aleksander, she and Bartosz race to the power plant, but are intercepted by the adult Magnus and Franziska from Adam's world, who send Martha on her mission to rescue Jonas.

Using quantum entanglement, Adam returns to the Apocalypse and takes young Jonas to Eva's world, urging him to collect Martha and prevent the origin.

The website's critical consensus is "Dark's central mystery unfolds slowly, both tense and terrifying, culminating in a creepy, cinematic triumph of sci-fi noir.

[39] Grading the series with a "B", Steve Greene of IndieWire wrote, "Even when Dark is clinical in its set-up of these interweaving story threads, there's still an incredible amount of energy coursing through the show.

[33] The website's critical consensus states, "Dark's sumptuous second season descends deeper into the show's meticulously-crafted mythos and cements the series as one of streaming's strongest and strangest science fiction stories.

[46][47] The season received a rating of four out of five from Jack Seale of The Guardian and Boyd Hilton of Empire, a B+ grade from Hanh Nguyen of IndieWire, and an "amazing" score of 9 out of 10 from David Griffin of IGN.

[48][49][46][50] The latter wrote in his verdict: "Dark Season 2 can hurt your brain at times, trying to piece all the time-traveling narratives together, but in the end, creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese reward your patience with some stellar WTF moments.

"[50] TV Guide's Kaitlin Thomas was also favorably inclined towards the season, saying that "one of the reasons Dark is such a compelling drama isn't just because it presents time travel as something that is possible or because it grounds its story in the emotional narratives of its characters, but because it couches its sci-fi themes in conversations about free will and destiny.

[35] The site's critical consensus says, "Dark's final chapter is as thrilling as it is bewildering, bringing viewers full circle without sacrificing any of the show's narrative complexities.

[36] The season received a rating of five out of five from Radio Times's Patrick Cremona and four out of five from The Guardian's Jack Seale, an A− grade from IndieWire's Steve Greene, and an "amazing" nine out of ten from IGN's David Griffin.

[58][59][60][61] Cremona deemed it as "science fiction at its most mesmerising, its most confounding and its most exhilarating - and it all makes for a truly irresistible piece of television" and further praised the writing, cinematography, casting, and acting (particularly that of Louis Hoffman, Maja Schöne, and Lisa Vicari).

[58] Griffin wrote in his verdict, "Dark's third and final season on Netflix is a memorable journey through time and space, with thrilling character shifts and fascinating paradoxes to unpack.

Radio Times named it the eighth best TV show of the year, with one of the website's writers Patrick Cremona saying, "The final series was another irresistible piece of sci-fi television, equal parts mesmerising and confounding, with a sweeping scope that gave it the sense of a true epic.

The website's Allie Gregory wrote, "With stunning performances from Louis Hoffman, Oliver Masucci and Karoline Eichhorn (and an incredible score to boot), the apocalyptic time travel sci-fi series deftly concludes its mind-bending journey in its darkest (and Dark-est) instalment yet.

[...] [It] manages to neatly tie up all of its loose ends to finally find the one true "origin," so, at last, the town of Winden can free itself from the trappings of time and fate.